Britons spend millions of pounds on perfumes, aftershaves and deodorants each year, but does the secret to an attractive scent lie in our own armpits?

There aren’t tones of semen and sweat in these perfumes, but body odour fragrances aren’t as bizarre as you might think… (Picture: DM)

There are some strange smells beginning to emanate from the perfume industry. Several unorthodox odours are making their way into high street fragrances – such as sweat, blood, saliva and even semen.

The smell of all of these bodily fluids has been recreated to produce Sécrétions Magnifiques, a perfume from French company État Libre d’Orange.

Surely, synthetic sweat is one thing but is the perfume industry taking it a bit too far? Dr Tamsin Saxon, a lecturer in psychology at Dundee’s University of Abertay thinks not.

Several studies show men and women both find body odour attractive at different stages.

Women are said to smell more appealing to others when they are ovulating.And according to separate research, women at their most fertile prefer the scent of more ‘manly’ and dominant men with high testosterone levels.

Dr Saxton recently conducted a speed dating experiment in which a group of women had androstenedione – a hormone found in sweat – put on their top lip so its scent would be in their nostrils throughout the evening.

After the event, the group rated the men involved more highly than all the other women taking part.

‘Maybe in a particular context – with your romantic partner maybe – body odour is a fine smell, but walking down the street and bumping into a stranger, you wouldn’t like it,’ said Dr Sexton.

‘Women, when ovulating, seem to smell more attractive.

‘Research has been done collecting both armpit odours and vaginal odours from women and getting people to smell them,’ she continued.

‘At the first half phase of their cycle, they smell either more attractive, or at least less unattractive.’

Fragrance expert Penny Williams has 23 years of experience in the industry and serves on the council of the British Society of Perfumers (BSP).

She told Metro that pleasant smells were ‘in the nose of the beholder’ and that perfumery was an experimental process. ‘It’s a little like a top chef working on a new recipe,’ she said.

Ms Williams explained that key perfume ingredients include florals such as jasmine and rose, along with deeper resonating notes such as sandalwood, cedarwood and musk, as well as vanilla, toffee and fruits.

She also said that existing scents may be a little closer to our own body odours than we’d like to think. ‘Sandalwood has a note that is a little sweaty,’ she explained.

‘Lily, jasmine and other flowers contain indolic materials, which are often described as smelling of poo. Even honey odours have a urine side to them.

‘At a BSP event several years ago, we had a trip to see and smell orchids – one of the orchid varieties smelled of semen, so the smell isn’t unique to humans.

‘Many people’s noses probably already appreciate these notes in fragrances, even if their brains haven’t consciously caught up with the idea.’

Fragrance critic Dariush Alavi writes perfume blog Persolaise. His guide to perfume, Le Snob: Perfume, will be published later this year.

Mr Alavi said: ‘There’s increasing evidence to suggest that people – especially women – unwittingly use smell as one of the deciding factors when choosing a mate, and various odours also seem to convey notions of trustworthiness, reliability and dependability.’

In broad terms, Mr Alavi said women tend to prefer woody, musky scents in men and men enjoy smelling white florals like jasmine and orange blossom.

‘These all contain significant quantities of chemicals called indoles, which is found in faeces,’ he added.

‘It’s also important to remember that many fragrances contain a variant of civet, which smells of dung. It’s an incredible material which, when used well, makes perfumes smell wonderfully opulent.’

Mr Alavi said there were some notable examples of perfume houses attempting to recreate natural body odours.

‘The brief for Penhaligon’s excellent Amaranthine was to evoke the smell of the inside of a woman’s thigh,’ he explained.

‘The man who was hired for the job – Bertrand Duchaufour – created an unusual blend of ylang ylang, banana leaf and a condensed milk accord, which may not necessarily smell of skin but certainly conveys the sensuality suggested by the brief.’

Mr Duchaufour was also the perfumer behind Petite Mort, which was said to be inspired by the female orgasm.

‘It’s interesting to note that a lot of people saw this as a step too far down the “perfume as weapon of seduction” route,’ Mr Alavi continued.

‘Many perfume critics were appalled by the idea that a fragrance should reduce a woman to a vat of bodily fluids.’

In the last year alone, 1,200 perfumes have been launched – a fact Mr Alavi said was ‘beyond ludicrous’.

He added: ‘One thing’s for sure: I don’t see bodily smells being popular any time soon because there’s still such a demand for “clean” perfumes.

‘There will always be room for marketing gimmicks but whether they translate into successful perfumes is another matter.

‘Lady Gaga’s perfume will reportedly contain a semen note, but to be honest, I’ll believe that when I smell it…’